A big hell yeah
So I am at work today...and there is country musak on the radio. That's right, I suffered through 3.5 hours of country music today. For you. I took one for the team. Did my service, my duty for all y'alls. I am a patriotic citizAn of this great country of ours. Putting my boot WHERE??
I just don't know what it is about country music that just rubs me the wrong way. The fakeness of the twang. The way they try to sound rock while keeping their country roots. The whole white trash of it all.
Now don't get me wrong, I love all the stuff AROUND country music. Folk and irish traditional (supposibly the origin of country music) are definatly some of my favorite genres of music. Ben Harper, Peter, Paul and Mary, John Denver, Simon and Garfunkel, Arlo Guthrie, Woody Guthrie and Joni Mitchell were all artists that really spoke to me with their music.
Old school bluegrass is pretty neat, I like to hear that when it is on. Slide guitar, fiddles and harmonicas are all instruments that when played in that style, I can truly enjoy listening to.
Leo Kottke and Mike Gordon (from Phish) did an awesome album together called Clone that they use a lot of the bluegrass/folk style.
Maybe what I dislike about modern pop-country so much is the distance from authenticity. I dislike modern pop for much of the same reason. When I listen to music, I want something real to grasp at, not junk food to rot my insides empty. While pop-country claims to have roots in the good old stuff, they don't really listen to it anymore. When was the last "new" Johnny Cash? Even though I don't like all his stuff, I could tolerate and definatly even like some of his material. He was a true artist.
I don't want to be the Rolling Stone advocate here, saying everything old must be good. That too, is not always the case. But when it comes to country music, give me "these boots are made for walking" any day over Toby Keith's shit-covered boot.
Comments welcome!
later
I just don't know what it is about country music that just rubs me the wrong way. The fakeness of the twang. The way they try to sound rock while keeping their country roots. The whole white trash of it all.
Now don't get me wrong, I love all the stuff AROUND country music. Folk and irish traditional (supposibly the origin of country music) are definatly some of my favorite genres of music. Ben Harper, Peter, Paul and Mary, John Denver, Simon and Garfunkel, Arlo Guthrie, Woody Guthrie and Joni Mitchell were all artists that really spoke to me with their music.
Old school bluegrass is pretty neat, I like to hear that when it is on. Slide guitar, fiddles and harmonicas are all instruments that when played in that style, I can truly enjoy listening to.
Leo Kottke and Mike Gordon (from Phish) did an awesome album together called Clone that they use a lot of the bluegrass/folk style.
Maybe what I dislike about modern pop-country so much is the distance from authenticity. I dislike modern pop for much of the same reason. When I listen to music, I want something real to grasp at, not junk food to rot my insides empty. While pop-country claims to have roots in the good old stuff, they don't really listen to it anymore. When was the last "new" Johnny Cash? Even though I don't like all his stuff, I could tolerate and definatly even like some of his material. He was a true artist.
I don't want to be the Rolling Stone advocate here, saying everything old must be good. That too, is not always the case. But when it comes to country music, give me "these boots are made for walking" any day over Toby Keith's shit-covered boot.
Comments welcome!
later
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